Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Wednesday 03/21 A.M. Quickie:Wait, When Do The Games Start Again?

The Wednesday before the Sweet 16 starts is a very strange day in sports:

With everyone's attention still focused on the NCAA Tournament – but more than 48 hours since the most recent game ended and more than 24 hours until the next round begins – it's a whole lot of... waiting.

Maybe that's why the sports-news slate is so thin this morning. I'll try to update throughout the day with interesting posts that pop up.

UPDATE 2: Scroll down (or simply click here) for a revival of the old "Quickie Book Club" feature for a new book that I think is particularly relevant this month, "The Enlightened Bracketologist." It's a ton of fun. (The book, not my post. But read the post anyway.)

Stalker Watch: The woman once accused of stalking Bob Uecker was asked to leave a Brewers game yesterday. That's just some scary stuff.

MLB Injury Watch: Come collect your prize if you had "On the DL" for where you predicted Kerry Wood and Mark Prior would start the season.

NIT: West Virginia and MississippiState win their quarters to advance to the semis in NYC next week.

Brackets: The NCAA seems to be trying to keep athletes from participating in online pools. Wanna bet how many still do?

Tournament Challenge Update: Props to P. Clevenger and L. Jalbert for leading the ultra-competitive Daily Quickie Readers group. Slim lead over C. Ward, B. Baumann and D. Krupa. (Great: Now I'm going to sit here all day trying to guess first names...)

NBA: Fines MJ $15K for talking about Kevin Durant, which seems hypocritical, given that it was the league's own rules that created Durant Mania.

More NBA: If the Sixers want to continue to keep sucking, they can replace GM Billy King with Larry Brown.

NBA Draft: Big Baby is entering the draft. He might have been better off last year; this year's class is SO deep with big men. He's still a first-round pick, most likely knocking yet another guard to the 2nd.

NFL Scheduling: Rumors floating around are that the season-opening Thursday night game will be between the reigning champ Colts and the feel-good Saints in Indy.

NFL Suspensions: Will Roger Goodell suspend Pacman Jones for the entire 2007 season? It's a rare decision where you'll hear very few complaints from fans, media and bloggers. (h/t ProFootballTalk)

Go Syracuse tonight in the NIT! Sure it is the consolation tournament but it beats being knocked off in the first round of the NCAAs. Big question: is it is better for a bubble team to win the NIT than to lose in the first round of the NCAA?

It depends on how you lose in the first round. Illinois put up a fight and had a right to be there (better to lose in the first round) Stanford embarrassed themselves and had no business being in the NCAAs (Better off playing in the NIT)

I teach a class at a university (I'm a grad student) and I had an online pool for my class on Facebook. A baseball player in my class told me he's not allowed to do it, and since it was online, he couldn't do it covertly.

I think it depends on the team. If it's a young team or a new coach, I would rather win the NIT and get the extra time to practice and develop, as well as the extra game experience. It's similar to how those .500 teams love getting the bowl invites in football because it gives them an extra month of practice time.

Thanks for the responses. Of course winning the NIT is tough to do since there are 5 games in a row a team needs to win.

The frustrating part is that you can't help feel that your team could have made a run in the NCAAs once they make a run in the NIT. The big problem with that argument is that the competition is better in the NCAAs.

My bracket is only 11th percentile so I did pretty awful this year. However I do have all my final four teams still in the tournament.

I think it's great for a young team to get all of that NIT experience, now my Mountaineers get to play their 4th postseason game...you can't buy that experience for next year, it's awesome!! Plus, last night's game against NC State was a thriller, everyone is still playing for something...there are only about 22 teams left in college bball playing and we're one of them, not too bad! Will we see you in the finals Syracuse?? the first time our 2 Big East schools actually play this year, kinda funny actually!

NBA Update...The Toronto Star is reporting that Barganani is out for the remainder of the season after getting an apendectomy early this morning...sucks for the Raps, but also sucks because it gives Roy the ROY.

Jen I think one of the reasons ND was not listed as a most hated team is because they have not been good in 15 years. It's hard to hate a team that has not won a bowl game since Bob Davie was the coach.

But let's face it, Notre Dame/USC isn't quite the rivalry it was (UCLA has supplanted ND as SC's most hated football rival), and Michigan, Michigan St., etc, all have other more hated rivals.

For the record, I went to BC, and we all considered Notre Dame our hated rival, but I know the hatred was not reciprocated. Fortunately we beat them all four years I was at BC, so that was fun. Woo Ireland Trophy!

LOL you're right. They don't really have football...but they try. I'm a Miami University alum and OU is our rival (long history, both predate Ohio A&M, academic and sports rivalries). Plus I spent my middle school and high school years in a town only half an hour from Athens, OH. I have plenty of reasons to dislike that dump. lol

Oh..and the Ohio University Drunken Solichs did beat my Redhawks last year.

i agree with vince, i think floyd reacted how we would all react in that situation. Mayo is a prick " OJ does not give out his phone number, he will call you." you are a high school seinor please deflate your ego.

I would like to think Billy Donovan would have said, "Thanks but no thanks, kid," but Floyd doesn't so much come off as a douchebag as he does a guy who was a little desperate and liked the idea of getting a supremely talented basketball player.

That said, not since Kellen Winslow have I rooted this hard for a non-pro athlete to suffer a career-ending injury. And I would like if it happens as soon as possible. Although, I guess it would be better if he didn't get injured, but was a bust instead. That would be nice.

I blame the media for every year giving Cubs' fans a sense of false hope. Each year, baseball experts will predict a big season for the Cubs based on a healthy Wood and Prior and ever year they get injured and spend most of the year on the DL.

The prize should be given for correctly picking the date Wood and/or Prior go on the DL, since it's a given that they'll end up there at some point during the season.

I'm a Cubs fan, so feel free to shake your head in pity, but I never really felt that this year hinged on Prior and Wood being back and healthy. The rotation is a shambles, but that's about par for the course in the NL. I think with Piniella and the new lineup, the Cubs still have a shot even if Wood and Prior never see the light of day.

The problem with the Cubs (well one of them at least), is that their farm system really isn't that good. Rich Hill could be something, and there's always the possibility that Felix Pie does turn out to be something, but really, that's about it.

The Cubs took completely the wrong approach in overpaying for guys (again), when it needed to root money back into the farm system, and grow that.

And the other problem is that Dusty Baker screwed Prior and Wood... hahaha...

Troy I wouldn't root for a guy to get an injury what I would root for is him becoming ineligeble. Be it not qualifying academically or a violation on his part for sigining with an agent. I am sure that his recruitment is being to be investigated closely.

Following both the Cubs and the Nationals, I can tell you that the Cubs have a decent farm system, and that spending money only on minor league talent is no longer the best way to build a franchise. The Nats have to do it this year, as we have a crappy stadium, a shaky fan base, and nothing to even build around. But the Cubs already had a solid nucleus, but had to spend $75M to keep one player and $16M to keep another. They overspent for a leadoff hitter (even though he will put up fantastic numbers in teh 1 spot). And they over-paid for a #4 pitcher, but even given the current market that might not be too much of a stretch.

The Cubs minor league system developed a lot of current major league talent, that the Cubs have used to pick up great starters in trades (see Aramis Ramirez and Derek Lee) and still have some great depth, especially pitching. Jeff Smaslkdjlsdkfjdklja is going to be a solid major leaguer soon.

The advantage the Cubs have this year is they have 7 pitchers vying for a 5-man rotation, so they don't need Prior or Wood to be healthy in order to succeed. Zambrano would be a #1 on every team outside of Minnesota. Lilly is a great #2. Jason Marquis and Rich Hill will be fine 3/4 guys. Then you have a 5th spot open for Wade Miller (at a super discount who can be an ace if healthy), Prior (if he pitches), or Angel Guzman (having a great spring). Their offense will produce a lot of runs as they now have speed and power and average guys all mixed in. Their defense will be decent. They will win 80-90 games in a questionable NL Central.

I had a dream last night of a "This is Sportscenter" commercial. The commercial starred Tiger Woods and Neil Everett. It is around Christmas time and the whole ESPN office is playing "secret Santa." Tiger was opening up a gift from his secret santa and it's a book. He tosses it aside and rolls his eyes. He then peeks over his cubicle to watch Neil opening up his gift. Neil opens up this huge box and it's a Masters green jacket, a giant check from a tournment, and a U.S. Open trophey. Tiger then says, "Man, you got good gifts. I wish I had your secret Santa."

Now...I was took some Nyquil last night so I might have been hallucinating. So 1.) Is this already a commercial, 2.) Is this funny? B/c I remember laughing my ass off in my dream, and 3.) Is there already a semi-idea out there like this. I feel like Elaine on that episode of Seinfeld where she tries to write her own New Yorker cartoon.

I think you're overrating the Cubs pitching staff. Zambrano is one of the true 'Aces' in basbeball, but they might have a rough time keeping him beyond this year. Lilly is not a #2, he's more like a #4 on a contending team. Rich Hill has the potential to be a #2, but he'll take his lumps as a rookie. (His AAA/MLB splits are sooo confusing). Jason Marquis should be a #5 starter on most teams, and Wade Miller never was an ace, at best he has #3 potential, but you'll be lucky to get 10-15 starts out of him.

The best the chance the Cubs have is that they're in the NL Central, where they can feast on the Reds and Pirates.

And Samardjza right now can throw heat, but he's raw and doesn't have much in the way of secondary stuff right now, and he's at least 2/3 years off.

All I'm saying is that for a team with the resources that they have, they should be doing what the Red Sox and Yankees are doing, in building a solid core of veterans, but also spending money on the draft and in international scouting, exploiting their financial advantages there.

I read the OJ Mayo article about 18 minutes ago and I have been sitting here, trying to figure out a response and I am speechless, without words! Out of all the colleges that have not won in a long time that are in large markets, you mean to tell me that he wants to play for a guy that was an absolute bust in the NBA and wants that guy to show him the inside track on how to hone his skills to be the best? Seriously? I feel like a movie will come out in about 5 years and Nick Nolte will be starring as Floyd...ring a bell anyone???

No, Mayo just wants to go to a school that will be okay with him being bigger than the program, doesn't [probably] care about recruiting violations, and go to a school where he'd be the star, the feature attraction.

Mayo does seem to have a lot of Maurice Clarret warning signs, but I think the big difference between him and Clarret is that the NBA already has a ton of egotistical, larger than life players like him in it. Let's face it, character isn't exactly the priority for NBA scouts the same way it's valued for the NFL.

Can't tell if you think I'm under or overrating Marquis. If anything, Marquis as a 5 starter is being generous.

He's just not that good. You're talking about a guy who's a .500 guy, whose career WHIP is 1.43, and has consistently averaged giving up around 30 HRs/year. The only thing going for Marquis is that he's likely to go 200 IP, which definitely has some value. But nothing more than a #5 starter for most rotations.

As some (CMFOST) might know, I'm somewhat of a high school basketball follower, mostly because I love the NBA and made it my buisness to know who these guys were before they were lottery picks. Now that the NBA DRAFT RULE is in effect, I still keep up because I'm used to it. So here's what I know about OJ MAYO:

I first heard of him when he was in 6th grade. News was flying everywhere about the kid. At the time, LeBron was in 10th grade and was already on his way to his first Mr. Basketball title and the name LeBron James was starting to be discussed everywhere.

People asked: if LeBron is the next MJ, who is the next LeBron?NBA scouts answered: OJ MAYO

Mayo had grown up in Huntington with MJ as his idol. He moved to Rose Hill Christain in Kentucky where he was elligible to play ball in 7th grade. He had 27 in his first game. He then transfered to North College Hill in Ohio to play 9th grade.

By the time he was a junior he was averaging 38-8-8 and led his team to state titles and won himself a few Mr. Basketballs. He was seen after a couple of his AAU games chatting with Lebron and 'Melo. When the new draft rule came out at the end of his Junior year, an NBA scout said that it was a shame he would have to wait 2 more years before playing in the NBA. Another scout remarked that he would been the consensus #1 pick in the 2005 draft (after his sophmore year in high school) over Andrew Bogut.

This is when my interest really peaked. I had to check it out. I saw some tape and the kid was crazy. But earlier this year he got in that scrape with the ref. After watching the video though, I can't imagine anyone would think that Mayo did anything outrageous. He basically got T'ed up and then T'ed up again, apparently for saying something (although the camera shows that his mouth didn't move) and then the ref took a dive trying to make OJ look bad to solidify the belief that he never did anything to earn the 2nd tech.

The pot thing happend and they dropped the charges because its hard to to charge a kid for being in the car when someone else has pot. But OJ's record is far from clean.

He made it into the news last Saturday night again because in the state championship game (in which I think he had 43-12-11) he stole the ball at half court, took 1 dribble, threw the ball underhanded from the 3 point line off the back board, jumped from a step inside the foul line, dunked, then took the ball and threw it into the crowd and got T'ed up. The fans were all there to see him and everyone hugged him as he left the court but some thought it was an unnessesary exclamation point on an already fantastic career. But it is what the crowd wanted.

I had heard virtually the exact same story as this article about OJ and Floyd. I come to the same conclusion everytime. Floyd, like I've heard about the Boehiem/Anthony situation was so shocked that he was getting such a great player that nothing else mattered. The cell phone thing is very prima donna but thats the way stars are. For a guy who has been famous for 5 years already you should expect no less. Think about it. Yeah, it's not nice but who is nice these days anyway. And Mayo probably can recruit the rest of the team better than Floyd. You know how I know? Because it happend already and he did.

Alright, I have to touch on the Cubs issue being as I'm a diehard Cubs fan. The Cubs were never going to depend on Wood and Prior this year. That is why they added so many people to the pitching staff. Big Z is amazing, as has been said and hasn't been disputed. Lilly will be a solid #2 guy because he moved to the NL. It is much easier to pitch in the NL. Rich Hill will be something. The guy has a Zitoesque curve and a great fastball to go with it. Marques sucks. I'll give everyone that. But Miller is having a pretty good spring and has had no health issues so he'll be around all year. If Marquis sucks it up, Angel Guzman can step in, as can Prior once he gets his arn strength back up.

As far as Prior is concerned, right now, he has barely pitched in 2 years so his arm strenght isn;t there. I have heard absolutely nothing about him being injured. So wherever you are getting that, it's wrong. Wood has a triceps strain. But like I said, we werent' counting on either of them. We've stocked up and won't be cut short like last year.

As for the Cubs, my roommate and I decided that they have Zambrano (a #1 starter almost anywhere) and three #3/#4 starters in Hill, Marquis, and Lilly, with a crapshoot for the 5-spot. Of course, from, my roommate's perspective that's a solid rotation, since he's a Devil Rays fan (and they have a Kazmir (a #1) and 4 guys who are essentially middle relievers vying for the 2-5 spots)

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DanShanoff.com is a sports-blog spin-off of my long-time ESPN.com column, "The Daily Quickie." Anchored by an early-morning post of must-know topics, the blog is updated frequently throughout the day with new posts and user comments.